


Tye Fic AU: Life As It Is Now (ARC 1)

by Derry_Ocean_Scotch



Category: NEOKOSMOS (Webcomic)
Genre: Depression, Eleven years into the future, Loneliness, Slice of Life, Venting work, What If... Future AU, personal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 08:44:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12980388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Derry_Ocean_Scotch/pseuds/Derry_Ocean_Scotch
Summary: placeholder.tp





	Tye Fic AU: Life As It Is Now (ARC 1)

**Author's Note:**

> Will be soon...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tye's daily routine in their current life.  
> updated 3-21-2018 with next event

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll finish the rest of this long boring chapter soon

     The eyes of a slumbering being slowly open. A feeling of drowsiness and ache flows over them like a wave. These eyes look up at the ceiling fan. The lights on the fan and the fan itself were off from last night. Their eyes move to their right. A laptop was still safely sitting on a messy desk of papers, markers, and cables. A window on the wall to the left of the desk gave no photons, only darkness. Looking now to the left, they saw a hump of clean clothes that still sat on the floor next to a dresser from yesterday. Another window far off from the pile and the dresser near a closet emitted no light as well. Their eyes look now toward the device attached to their arm. The time on it stated 5:23 A.M. Their eyes now looked forward. A small bookcase filled with books that they've never read still appears the same as it always has, dusty. That horrible feeling of grogginess overcame them again. But then another feeling, a craving, came onto them. They now felt like they had to satisfy this urging before they could go back to sleep as it was still early morning. This feeling was powerful against feelings of exhaustion and weakness. They had to satisfy it now, or suffer the consequences of a lingering headache that was just now starting to take place. Moving their whole body now, the tall individual slid off the bed and onto the floor. The human did their slow, early morning stretch with their arms and legs, making movement easier and less painful, although they still felt weak all over. They then opened a door that was already partly open that they swore they had closed the night before. The human then walked through the darkness of the house into the nearby kitchen, where the floor was eerily, numbingly cold.

     Flipping on the light switch, the kitchen was revealed in a blinding light. The eyes that were already trying to shut fastened themselves immediately, forcing the tired human to search for what they needed by groping with their hand. One of the top cabinets in the kitchen to their right had what they needed. The top cabinet closest to them wasn't it, but over past the stove and microwave were two more top cabinets, the next or the closest one was their goal.  Walking, touching and feeling for the handle, they opened it and the cabinet’s contents were slowly revealed to their adjusting sight to see what they were craving for. The cabinet contained a silver-ish, gold needle, a clear, measured booster shot barrel and plunger, a bottle of a dark substance and a silver spoon, all looking clean from its use before. Taking it all, the human put these objects on the counter across from the cabinet. Also across from the counter was a fridge that hummed faintly. The human went towards it and opened the lower, bigger door of the fridge. The fridge lit up, putting its contents on display. The human, now having better eye sight, looked around for the next thing they needed. On the top shelf to the right was a pack of glass bottled, all light blue, yellow, and red energy drinks, and the brand: Capitol. Taking two out and closing the door, they put the drinks on the counter and prepared the drug. The needle was put into the shot barrel and plunger. Then with the spoon, the dark substance was put into the shot. The human then opened both bottles slowly, their hands were starting to ache now. They stood there staring at the drug and energy drinks for a few minutes. Then, they took the shot and injected it into their right arm, held it for a bit, took it out and downed the first glass bottle of energy. The pain from the injection was met with the strange, bitter taste of the energy drink. The human didn’t care for this as they believed it would make them fall back into sleep, since their urge would be satisfied.

     After finishing a whole bottle and a half, the human needed to use the bathroom. The tall, half-asleep-yet-awakening individual walked out of the kitchen and into the bathroom that was across from their bedroom. Flipping the light switch on, the human relieved themselves of their bodily waste and then washed their hands with soap and water at the sink. Looking up at the mirror above the sink, they saw themselves. Dark, long, bed hair and tired, dark eyes, and a look of tiredness and depression invaded the surface of the mirror. Tye greeted themselves. They were still wearing their underwear from yesterday. Hating to even look at themselves, Tye turned off the light and went back to their bedroom to go back to sleep. Falling on the bed, they crawled back up and partially covered themselves. Closing their pained eyes, Tye attempted to sleep again. However, they couldn't. Deciding that they just needed to adjust themselves more and that it would take time, Tye waited more for slumber. Soon it was obvious to them, that they weren't going to sleep again.

     "Why did I take that drug?" They thought. The weakness in Tye’s body returned and feelings of grogginess violated them. Horrible, numbing thoughts arrived in their mind, making any dreaming impossible. Heart beats lowered for a bit. They continued to lie there on the queen sized bed, waiting for the pain to go away.

     After lying in bed awake for at least an hour, Tye finally got up and went to have breakfast. They looked at their Economic Armband, a large technological wristband that was attached to their left arm, for the time. It was 6:44 A.M, almost a few minutes around the time they usually woke up every other day. No more feelings of weakness, exhaustion, tiredness, and numbing thoughts crippled Tye. Only their stomach was feeling noticeably painful. If they didn’t eat, their stomach would ache for the rest of the day. The windows were now emitting a light from the artificially, yet accurate dawn. Stretching some more and then navigating the mess inside their room, Tye grabbed an empty glass that was sitting on the bookshelf and walked out of their room. They turned left in the small hall of their home and then walked right to the kitchen. The white, rocky colored tile floor was no longer numbingly cold, now it was noticeably cool. Tye shivered anyway when they stood on it since they weren’t wearing socks, but they felt this way every morning.

     The kitchen was the largest kitchen Tye had seen in a home before. The kitchen light was still on from over an hour ago. Maybe that was why they hadn’t gone back to sleep, they thought. Tye’s door was left wide open when they made their attempt to go back to bed again. Looking more clearly at the kitchen, Tye could now see what was around them as their eyes had adjusted to the light. To their right and left were two counters, each one with a grayish brown, rocky colored counter top, which was uniform in the kitchen, with everything else a dirty white colored wood underneath it all. The left one had lots of papers and junk together in a pile. The ads and other letters of junk mail had to be taken and recycled today, otherwise Tye would start to become a hoarder, if they hadn’t already. Beside the pile of letters was a pencil cup that had three broken, gray mechanical pencils and two used up black ink pens in it. Above the counter was a white cabinet full of even more junk. This cabinet did not need to be opened for the sight of its contents. Underneath the cabinet were three drawers. Tye remembered that the top drawer contained silverware such as forks, knives, and spoons. The middle drawer contained a box of plastic bags, a box of saran wrap, and rolls of large tape. The bottom drawer was empty. And by this counter was a silver trash can that stood ready for any trash. The right counter had nothing on it except stains of water and food crumps, though not as much as the counter from across the fridge. Above it was another white cabinet, the first top cabinet.

     Tye opened it and examined the wood-colored inside. This was their drug cabinet, each shelf was stacked with bottles of pills that were either full, half empty, or almost empty. The bottom shelf contained the basic vitamins Tye needed to take every day. The bottles of vitamins are as follows: _Zygn Vitamin D_ , _Skalp Iron Tablets_ , _Votest Nettle_ , _Omomplesno Magnesium Pills_ , _Fifty Potassium Pills_ , and more. Tye had a potassium deficiency so they had to take those pills otherwise they would get leg cramps during the night. The thought of having these cramps made Tye feel a lingering pain in their left leg. The nettle was just to make sure that horrible cough never returned. Memories of coughing every day and spitting out mucus in the bathroom sink were still fresh in Tye's mind. Vitamin D and iron was something Tye was told to take by their doctor since they apparently didn't have enough of it from their diet, so the bottles' needed to be taken down. The magnesium pills were the only thing Tye didn't want to take from the bottom shelf. When they were fifteen, their doctor and caretaker at the time told them to take one every day. They always remembered that they were threatened with constipation and a bad immune system if they didn’t take them. So they tried to take one every day, but eventually slacked on doing it. After two years, Tye asked their doctor (was still their doctor at the time until they turned eighteen) when they could stop taking them. The doctor responded with _"Well Tye, you'll have to take them for the rest of your life! You can't stop taking them or you'll...!"_ The rest was the same threat of constipation, which sometimes held true, or some other health reason that seemed less like a fact and more like an excuse to take it. And maybe it was what Tye ate at the time. But regardless, these magnesium pills followed Tye everywhere they lived. And it did help with the occasional constipation and diarrhea, but other than that, it was useless to Tye. Feeling guilty for not taking it in weeks, Tye grabbed the bottle of magnesium down as well as the other vitamins to take. They then went towards the sink to fill their glass of water so they could take their vitamins. The sink was filled with dirty dishes, something Tye did at least one or twice every two weeks. The smell of rotten, bad food coming from the drain disposal and dirty dish sink water made Tye gag. There were at least four mid-sized plates, seven small plates, and seven large plates stacked with forks, knives, spoons, and other utensils next to or in between them. No cups or glasses were in their since the Tye didn’t use many cups or glasses during a week, they just used the same one for at least a week. Bowls and pots, big and small also took up space and water in the metallic, silvery sink. It was time to finally to do the dishes, but not now. Now it was time to take their vitamins. But later they could do the dishes, and maybe clean the sink with some _Clorax Wipes_ which was stored in the sink cabinet along with dish washer detergent, dish soap, two gallon bottles of hand soap, two clear gallon pitchers, and a box of ant traps. And the dishwasher was to the left of the sink cabinet so it wasn’t a hard job to do. Yet is was still dirty and time consuming.

     Tye turned the sink handle and poured the tap water into their empty glass. They then went back to the counter and opened the bottles. Taking one of each, Tye put it in their mouth, took a drink from the glass of water and repeated. When they were done, the glass was now half empty. Tye put the vitamin bottles back closed onto the bottom shelf lethargically.

     The second shelf contained a few medicine containers that Tye had taken from years ago or fairly recently depending on which one. One large bottle of pills was from their first human doctor back when they registered themselves for their State ID at the age of fourteen. Their doctor, Dr. Shannon, a Scottish woman with blond, curly hair, had prescribed them to Tye as an easy way of taking the right vitamins. These pills _“reverse any experimental hormones or chemicals injected into you as a clone/slave from your alien imprisonment and it will help you integrate into Humanity’s main evolution!”_ as it said on the label. Tye took these to obtain the vitamins they lacked and energy they needed, according to their doctor. Back then, they took so many different medicines and supplements from this brand to “fit in” and be healthy. This helped with unwanted changes that affected Tye as well as making them healthier during their late teenager years, but it also had some side effects unknown to them. For one, it made Tye grow to be a foot as taller compared to when they were fourteen. This height, which was six feet and two inches, made Tye feel like a towering, overshadowing individual. When they were with other people, they were usually always the tallest, making every person there feel smaller and more uneasy, like Tye was some sort of creep that had come from out of nowhere to harm them. And it didn’t help that Tye wore large clothes all the time, because despite their height and large clothing, they were pretty skinny and they had no noticeable muscles. Another side effect was muscle growth, and at first Tye was becoming more muscular, but as lack of exercise, drug usage and a non-healthy life style continued, they gained no significant muscle growth. This always frustrated them, it was strange to get taller and not get even a little muscular as well. It didn’t matter too much with the large clothes that they wore all the time, as this made them look bigger than they were. And they weren’t as weak as their body would suggest, but obviously they lacked physical evidence to prove their strength. Not that Tye cared about strength since they could lift and move certain heavy objects just fine, unless it was a table. They would need another person to help move it with them. But it would be nice if they regularly exercised themselves so they could be healthier than they were now. Tye always felt guilty for that. They had no idea what this medicine was really for and what it would do at the time. And when they experienced the physical changes, it was too late. The pills had taken effect and were there to stay. Tye could try to get surgery if they were really desperate, but they couldn’t afford it. The only surgery they ever got was getting rid of a benign tumor in their lower body at age fifteen and having the Economic Armband attached surgically to their left arm at age eighteen. Other side effects satisfied Tye’s bodily needs enough to decrease the amount of pills and medicine that was needed to be taken over the years. Now it was just this one container of medicine that remained as a reminder of that time. Tye didn’t need to take this medicine. The other containers of medicine were bottles of Estrogen and Testosterone that were there from before they lived in the house. Tye had no use for them, so they sat on the middle shelf, collecting dust. The top shelf had medicine for colds, sicknesses, and allergies. It was fall, specifically the month of October, so the medicine was not needed until later in the year and next year. It was handy to keep them around anyway.

     Tye now walked over past the black and white stove and the white microwave to the main counter across from the fridge and to the left of the sink. The drugs Tye had taken from earlier were still here along with a few empty, gray, and blue water bottles, a weaved basket of old protein bars, and some recycles at the far end of the counter. Taking the needle, the shot, and the spoon, they put it next to the sink. They would need to be washed and rinsed out for tomorrow. The dark substance they injected themselves with was next. It was called “ZuVielZucker”, something Tye came across when they were eighteen. They found it with… a friend they had long ago. They had taken the drug and introduced Tye to it. But… after that friend left Tye… Tye was left with the addiction of this drug. At first, it did nothing but make them feel light-headed, but after taking it awhile, Tye started to feel nothing at all. It was a pain killer, numbing any weak feelings, negative thoughts, and other bits of lingering pain Tye had. It also helped get rid of any excess weight Tye did not need; however, it was clear now it was just making them a little too skinny than healthy. And it wouldn’t kill all pain they got and the numbing feeling would only last up to an hour at best. Some other reduced pain would always greet them. Tye covered the bottle up and put it back into the cabinet it was in, which was next to the stove and microwave. The cabinet had nothing but the objects needed to inject themselves with. It once held snacks and other canned, bottled, or bagged food in it, but Tye had moved it all to the main counter years ago or the cabinet next to it. This cabinet had some spices and sauces in, such as salt, pepper, Tobasco sauce, honey, and other substances left over from Tye’s… old friend. But nothing in this cabinet was of use now. The bottles of energy drinks were still there on the counter too, although Tye didn’t want to finish the second one now. So they put the cap back on it to save it for later.

     The white fridge was decorated with a calendar, as well as drawings and papers saved from Tye’s innocent childhood. One was a drawing they made that conveyed the relationship of their first doctors and them. Another was a doodle of Chris McClain from the movie _Die Hard_. Above the fridge, there was a cabinet that has been locked since before Tye started to live in the house. Next to the fridge was a tall, thin cabinet that contained plastic ware, napkins, a crockpot, and a cookbook that had some basic recipes in it for when Tye decided they were hungry for something sophisticated. Tye then opened the fridge to put the energy drink back and find breakfast. The faint smell of food and residue reached Tye’s nose. There were many things packed in the white interior. On the top shelf there was as follows from left to right: two white and gray bowls collecting residue from the fridge since it had started to leak a year ago, bottles of fruit-based jam such as blueberry and grape (each colored respectively), a container of cream cheese that was going to go bad if not consumed soon, and the six pack of the Capitol Energy drinks. There were only four whole bottles left, so to increase that, Tye added the bottle they hadn’t finished. But nothing else on the shelf was worthy of being eaten for breakfast, so Tye looked at the small, clear, hard plastic cabinet hanging from the top shelf and slide it open. It had a box of lunch meat, specifically ham and salami, a stack of cut American cheese wrapped in saran, and an unopened container of butter pushed all the way to the back. Once again, there was nothing here to eat. The bottom shelf had as follows from left to right: a four pack of apple yogurt, two bags of leftover dinner (specifically a marinated chicken salad with pickles, tomatillos, lettuce, cabbage and lemons they had cooked and prepared for a friend that couldn’t show up), a bag of at least ten lemons (two had been used for the previous meal), seven cans of the soda beverage _Polar Orange Dry_ , three orange and blue cans of _Moxie_ soda, and an almost empty gallon of orange juice that Tye opened last week. Those cans of _Moxie_ had been discovered in the house and Tye liked them. But the soda was old and in a very limited supply, so they rationed it every few months. In all, they had drunken a total of five cans of _Moxie_ soda while living at the house. The _Polar_ soda was more plentiful, so Tye got a pack of them at least once a month, especially the _Orange Dry_ flavor. Tye ignored it and looked at the bottom cabinets in the fridge. The one of the right was empty. There were bags of vegetables or containers of fruit in there throughout the years, but now it had nothing. The left cabinet contained one bag of at least fifteen mackintosh apples. Tye slid open the cabinet, untied the bag, took out an apple, and slid it back without tying up the bag. They usually had something small for breakfast, so the apple was just perfect. Tye walked over to the sink and rinsed it off so it would taste even more fresh and crisp. The apple had no stickers on it, which was a relief to Tye. It was mostly red on the top with a light green underside with two red splotches. There was a windowsill over the sink. Small pots of droopy plants lined the windowsill. And outside the window the sun was rising enough to make the sky blue. The light from this conflicted with the kitchen lights so much that Tye had no choice but to turn it with the off in order to enjoy their morning. The light switch was back from where they entered so it wasn’t too far from their current location.

     With the apple rinsed off, Tye needed a plate for it. Above the main counter were two cabinets. The left one had shelves of cups, glass, and water bottles. The right one had small and large plates on the bottom shelf, bowls from big to little on the next shelf, and other decorative glassware on the top shelf. Underneath the main counter were more cabinets and a drawer. The drawer contained large utensils such as kitchen knives, a ladle, spatulas, and some big spoons and forks. And the other cabinet down from that shelf contained large metal pots, pans, bowls, and skillets. Tye took a small white plate from the right cabinet on the top for their apple. Tye then walked over into the dining room. The dining room was essentially just another part of the kitchen since it had been built and combined into it. Besides entering from the hallway, you could come from the front entrance room which would lead into the dining area and there was the small laundry room on the side. The dining room itself was painted white like the kitchen and it had a large table in center with four chairs. It was a dark, wooden table, not quite ebony, but polished to shine, unless it was dirty, and sturdy. Maybe it was Rosewood? Tye didn’t know. The chairs imitated the table and had a soft, lighter brown cushion on them. In the dining room there were three windows, one that had a view of front yard, and two that were on the side of the house, split between the door of the laundry room. The laundry was a basically a small room built onto the side of the house. But Tye didn’t need to check the laundry now.

     Tye took the apple and the plate, pulled up a chair, and sat down at the dining room table. Behind them was one of the windows that was to the right of the laundry room and to their right was the window on the front side of the house. Outside was a look at the green grass of the front yard, the tree that was off to the left, the sidewalks and the street past it, and the house and trees on the other side. The sunrise was off into the distance, obscured past the trees and houses of the neighborhood, with its light growing into a blinding haze slowly and steadily. Tye took a bite from the apple. The taste was normally crisp and juicy for a mackintosh apple. Tye liked eating these types of apples as they were laced with a very sweet and slightly tart flavor. However, the apples were only plentiful during the fall, so waiting to get them when they were in season was a pain. Another thing that was available in the fall was apple cider, a delicious drink that Tye devoured each time they bought it at the store. But they didn’t have any at the moment, as the last bottle of cider had been tossed into the blue recycling bin outside last week. Tye took yet another bite, then a third, and so forth. They ripped the skin off it with relative ease and they chewed it down like paper. Tye was most likely going to get up and have more because they were so small and delicious. This apple was their breakfast, their snack, and one part of their lunch. A fruit was a loyal food to someone who lived alone. A fruit is healthy, delicious, and worth the small tasks of buying, rinsing off and cutting up into smaller chunks (optional) to eat. It was also a healthy alternative for sugar addicts.

     As Tye ate the apple, they continued their gaze out of the window to their right. They couldn’t hear any noise from outside, only the hum of the fridge. They looked at the chair across from them and took another bite and chewed, reducing the apple to its core. After swallowing the apple chunks, Tye looked outside the window once more. It was a force of habit, but who didn’t have one habit like this? Outside was something new to the neighborhood scene, a wandering figure coming in from the right. They looked like a tired adult human female that was terribly wide-eyed and forward-looking, with clothes such as: a long-sleeve shirt, sweatpants, socks, and shoes; all white in appearance. They had short blond hair, blue eyes, large lips, and attractive body according to Tye. They appeared to be searching for something as they walked on the side walk to the left and west, slowly and steadily on their routine. This was the usual for Tye in their mornings, finding that same person going to their unknown destination and sometimes seeing them come back to go to another unknown place. They didn’t appear to be a neighbor of Tye’s and they certainly didn’t look toward any of the houses, just at the sidewalk ahead of them. But just in case, Tye always looked away in case of eye contact, which was not what they wanted at all. Although sometimes Tye could not help but stare when they woke up really bored. It was best to leave this poor person alone and finish off the apple. Soon enough the person disappeared. Tye had never once gone out to talk to that person, and today wasn’t going to be that day.

     After consuming about three apples to their white core, it was time to throw it all away. Tye looked at it once more and then forced themselves up. They walked to the trash can and threw the remains away and looked at their left arm again. The current time was 7:03 A.M. and Tye needed to take a shower and get dressed for the day. They walked once again into the small, white-colored hallway. Straight ahead of them was a closet full of towels, clothes, and some extra blankets toward the left and their bedroom toward the right. Right next to them was the pantry and to their far right was the living room. To their far left was the guest room and closer to the left was the bathroom. Tye walked to the closet and opened the thin, tall, door. The closet had three main shelves in it. The bottom of the closet had bags of old clothes and other junk and a locked box that Tye had never opened underneath. The second shelf from the bottom, which was in the middle, had stocked piles of bath towels of multiple colors on the right side and smaller wash clothes of various shades and colors on the left. The next shelf up and the shelf down had layers of extra blankets, towels, pillowcases, and pillows. Tye took out a peach-orange colored towel from the middle shelf of the closet, closed the door, and went to the bathroom. There was small rug before the bathroom doorway that removed the cold temperature from their feet temporarily. That is unless they stepped on the air vent next to the wall.

     Tye turned on the bathroom lights with a switch in the front wall on the bathroom on their left. The three bathroom lights that hung above the sink illuminated the room, though the blinded window at the back of the room let some light from the sky pass through. The bathroom was tinted with a pale yellow color, adding a whole new feel of blandness to the environment itself. It was a small room, but that was the way bathrooms were supposed to be designed. Any other way was considered unorthodox at best and horrifyingly alien at worst. The bathroom sink was on the immediate left and it had a bottom cabinet and mirror/cosmetics cabinet up top. The sink counter was a dirty white color, which was a possible result from not being cleaned in about a few weeks. Evidence to prove this was small puddles of water on the bottom right corner of the sink counter, some bits of soap from the soap container that stood at the top left corner, and traces of spit in the sink itself. The faucet and the handles were a dull silver, which mimicked the colors of the mirror/cosmetics cabinet. The door to the cabinet was both a mirror on the outside and on the inside, with toothbrush handles in there as well. Even the inside of the cabinet had a mirror; albeit with containers obscuring the view a little; allowing Tye to look at themselves in different angles. The containers on the small shelves of the cabinet are as follows: toothpaste, a bag of toothpicks, a bottle of fluoride, nail clippers, zit cream bottle, a shaving cream container, three hair combs that were clear, blue and black, a shaving razor, a bottle of witch hazel, a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a container of old birth control pills, and a container of body lotion for dry skin. Tye didn’t need these things yet, so they kept closed the mirrored door to the cosmetics cabinet. The cabinet below the sink was made of a tan-colored wood and it stood out in the bathroom as everything else was lightly colored. Inside the sink cabinet was an electric shaver, a box of q-tips, a safe and homemade first aid kit, two rolls of toilet paper, old boxes of tampons, an extra container of hand soap, and some disused bottles of blond, purple, and black hair dye. Once again, nothing of use was here in the sink cabinet. Tye closed the white bathroom door and locked it behind them, revealing two hangers for towels. However, Tye went ahead and placed the towel on a bar-shaped towel hanger since it was less likely to fall and it was closer to the bathtub. There were two of these bar hangers, each across from each other and in the same part of the room with the other hanger right above the toilet with a brown and white, hand-washing towel. The toilet was white with various stains on it with a small trashcan and a plunger right next to it and by the sink cabinet, which had a hanging roll of toilet paper attached to it. And at the end of the bathroom was the bathtub and the curtains that disguised it.

     Tye walked to it and uncovered the curtains to the bathtub. There was a faucet on the left, a shower knob that controlled water output and temperature above it, and a shower faucet up top. A window stood above the tub, the blinds on it were forever closed and to the side of the window were ledge-like shelfs with bottles of soap, shampoo, and other bath gear on it. Tye stood on the tan bathroom rug that was placed in front of the tub and started to take off what they had on, which was a pair of gray underwear and a gray bra. Throwing them off towards the door, Tye peed and then climbed into to the shower. They didn’t flush the toilet as that would cause the water temperature to be out of whack for some unknown reason. Seriously, why does it do that? Anyway, Tye looked themselves.

     They were a little dirty and smelly. It felt, ugly and uncomfortable to be this way. Feelings of hatred started to manifest within Tye. To prevent them from appearing, they quickly took action by getting into the bathtub, closing the shower curtains, and pushing the knob up to get water running out of the faucet. The water quickly reached Tye’s feet, making them wince in surprise. The cold water made them back up to the other end of the tub. But they would have to change the temperature of the shower. Tye got over to the shower knob and slowly turned it toward the left to allow the temperature to increase. Soon, the water was warm enough to be bathed in. Years ago, Tye used to take cold showers for health benefits. However, after some depressing things happened in their life again, they relapsed back to warm and hot showers. They were fine with the temperature they went back to, but those days of cold showers always haunted them when they felt any cold water in the bathtub…

     Tye pushed a stick-shaped button above the faucet and the shower turned on immediately with the faucet water ceasing to continue without a second. The water splashed onto Tye’s exposed body, making them soaked shivering within seconds. The temperature seemed to both wake Tye up for good and put them in a relaxed state. It was enjoyable, but they couldn’t just stand there, soaking it all in. Tye began to move the water across their body to any remaining dry parts of themselves. The Economic Armband was water proof and was safe in these conditions, but the way it was on Tye’s arm made washing their left arm very awkward. But they had already gotten used to it. With their body completely wet, they walked out of the shower’s path and took a bottle of shampoo from the top ledge to the right of the window and squirted some light blue liquid into their hand. Tye then rubbed it into their long, wet hair. Their hair, which had barely reached their shoulders, was quickly studded with white bubbles and shampoo. The black hair now felt heavy against their back. Washing their hands off for a second, Tye took another bottle, one of face wash, and received an orange liquid. They closed their eyes and then rubbed it across their face and then ventured back into the falling water. They rubbed and rinsed all the soap and shampoo from their hair and face within seconds. After that, Tye rubbed their eyes open to look for the body wash. It was in a white bottle on the same ledge as the face wash. Tye open the bottle and shook some out. Nothing. They pounded the bottom of the bottle to force some out and then squeezed it. The soap came out, albeit slowly. Once it was in a large “pile”, Tye scrubbed it across themselves. Their chest, stomach, back, shoulders, arm pits, arms, butt, legs and neck were lathered in a white, warm coat of soap. The water barely scratched against the “coat”, forcing Tye to wipe it all off with their hands within the water. With that water, the soap fell off Tye like magic.

     Soon enough, Tye was rinsed off from the soap and they were nice and clean. They no longer smelled and they had now woken up. Tye pulled the knob back down, ending the water and the button popped back up. Extra water from the shower faucet collapsed onto the white tub floor. It then started flowing across old scratches and stains, and it finally smashed into puddles and soap bubbles that hadn’t gone down the drain yet. Tye felt like all the dirt and funk from yesterday had left heir body for good. But without any clothes on or the warm water of the shower, the cold returned. They opened the curtains and reached for the orange-peach-colored towel. With it, they dried themselves in this order: face, hair, arms, shoulders, back, chest, stomach, back, legs, and feet. The towel felt a bit scratchy on their skin, making Tye take their time in the process. Soon enough their body was dry enough to put clothes on. They stepped out onto the rug and wrapped the towel around their lower body. Tye walked toward the sink and opened the cabinet door. They wiped away the residue on the mirror and looked themselves. Their hair was starting to spike up despite the weight of the water. Tye took out the back comb and straightened their hair out. After making it all look nice, they shook it back into its “normal” (messy) look. Tye stepped away from the cabinet and looked at themselves. They inspected their arms and legs. Hairy. At least a little hairy. They would have to shave themselves. Anger filled Tye when they realized they had forgotten to do it in the shower. They calmed themselves and decided to postpone it for tomorrow. At least they might do it tomorrow.

     With that, Tye grabbed their underwear, opened the bathroom door and walked into their bedroom. Closing the door behind them and throwing their underwear at a pile of dirty clothes and the towel to the side, Tye looked at themselves through the tall mirror behind the door. Their fully exposed body could now be seen with better accuracy due to the mirror’s size and its lack of recent, foggy, residue from the shower. Tye frowned at themselves. Combined with their already existing thoughts on themselves, they didn’t like their physical appearance. Besides the body hair, their body shape was good either. Tye wasn’t fat in any way, in fact they were a little too skinny for their own good. They wished they had at least some significant muscle mass, instead the body of druggie. They were too tall as well. The occasional, hanging object or short doorway would nearly knock Tye down, if not out. The head pained from remembering such things. This height didn’t give many benefits, in fact they couldn’t really think of any. But maybe Tye should look on the bright side of things. Despite their diet, Tye wasn’t overly fat, not that they could get fat. And their height did help with the obvious thing of reaching high objects. And if they shaved off the body hair, exercised some, got a haircut, and just generally took pride in their appearance, maybe Tye would look nice enough to have more friends. Tye decided it was time to stop standing there and to move on to more important things, like getting dressed. Tye turned to face their room.

     Tye’s room was a considerable mess. A dirty pile of clothes sat at the front right corner of the bed and a clean pile of clothes still sat on the left side of the bed from yesterday. Dust had piled on the blades of the fan on the ceiling of their room. The sheets, pillows, and quilts on the bed were left in disarray. The bed itself, which sat in upper middle of the room against the wall, had started to smell as Tye had not washed the the sheets, quilts, and pillows, etc. in many weeks. Many papers, folders, pens, and other objects along with a laptop computer, an art tablet, and a speaker were scrambled on Tye’s desk, which was placed toward the upper-right corner of the room. Dust was layered on the tops of the small, disused, bookcase in front of the bed and the big dresser on the upper-left corner of the room. Stacks of old booklets were laid out on two gray shelf cabinet carts of art supplies, old papers, folders, notebooks, and pictures. A rolling, office chair was parked right next to Tye’s desk and it still had a black and gray jacket and a dirty flannel on it. Meanwhile, on the floor were numerous papers, pens, books, cords, hangers, and mobile devices. The most important objects were Tye’s phone, their tablet, earphones, and another old phone that couldn’t make calls, chargers, and a new sketchbook that doubled as a line paper notebook. Luckily the floor wasn’t too cluttered and there was still a good deal of walking space. Tye needed to clean up their room. A year had passed since they had last done it. And another year was going to pass if they didn’t anytime soon.

     Tye ignored the light switch next to the door and walked over to the dresser to get some clothes. Opening the third or middle drawer and they found their drawer of pajama pants, underwear, and socks. Only one pair of underwear was left. A black and gray pair of undies. Tye took it and put it on so they weren’t completely naked. Next, they needed socks. But there were no more decent pairs of clean socks. Although looking at their huge pile of dirty clothes, Tye could wear the pair of socks they wore yesterday. Going to the pile, they found the pair of socks. They were white and had dust and dirt at the bottom. Tye sat down on the bed and slid them on with some struggle and felt a cool snuggling feeling from them. It made them uncomfortable for a bit. Tye’s feet had scars from an incident a few years ago involving glass so they preferred to hide them with socks. Looking at the pile, Tye could re-use the bra they had on from yesterday. But feeling disgusted from already wearing dirty clothes made them reject that idea. Besides, considering their very small breast size, it wouldn’t matter they thought. Tye went back to the dresser and closed the middle drawer and opened the second drawer from the bottom. Inside were a few clean shirts, all pajama shirts. Tye picked a gray t-shirt to wear. It had no logo on the front or back and it was pretty bland. Tye had worn better shirts. After putting that shirt on, Tye closed that drawer and opened the one above the middle drawer. Inside were pairs of blue jeans that ranged from tearing at the seams at the legs bright blue or still-looking-brand-new dark blue pairs. Tye took out a light blue pair and put it on. The jeans had a two deep pockets at their hips, two tight pockets on the right pants legs, and of course, the pockets on the butt. They buttoned and zipped up the jeans, but they still felt very loose. Since they had a small waste, Tye took out a brown belt from the pile of clothes and tightened the jeans. The last piece of clothing Tye needed was a flannel shirt for warmth. Walking to their closet, which was across from the dresser and to the right of the bookcase, Tye took a look at the two racks of clothing that hung in their small closet. Containers, bags, hangers, fallen clothes, and boxes of shoes piled the bottom of the closet. The bottom rack contained only a few nice shirts and things they couldn’t fit in their dresser. The top rack had pairs of nice pants, button-up shirts, jackets, coats, and flannels, lots and lots of colorful flannels hanging on it. Tye looked at the collection and pulled out a flannel of an orange, red, yellow, green, and black pattern. It was thick and warm to the touch. Two breast pockets, buttons, and a collar called out to them, waiting to be put on. Tye took the hanger out and put the flannel on like a coat and buttoned it up. Looking at themselves, Tye was dressed for the day. The clothes they had on made them a giant once more. The baggy, old jeans with the large, thick flannel gave Tye some confidence that no usual person would attempt to bother them. These clothes were affordable and despite the quality, they lasted quite well and Tye had had the jeans and flannels for years. It was a comfortable wear during the middle of the fall to the cold winters they would experience when they were outside. Tye knew the consequence of their intimidating and large appearance. They had seen enough people scoot away from them when in line for groceries, walk away slowly when they saw them, and just look disgusted or fearful when Tye came near. Regardless of what others thought, Tye still wore these clothes since they had to stay nice, warm, comfortable, and relaxed when the cold winds came to the earth. Tye began to smile at their appearance as they no longer saw a sad looking human. Instead they saw a powerful, depressed, artist ready to practice their craft. They were warm, comfortable, and refreshed.

     Since they had gotten ready, Tye looked at their armband. The time was 7:56 AM. Tye was a little bored and they wanted to draw something. First they picked up the towel from the floor and hung it back up in the bathroom. They then went back into their room, picked up their charged phone and earphones, and put them in their pocket. Next they grabbed their sketch book, and some pens on the floor, and opened the door to their room. Tye then walked into the short hall again. They took a right into the guest room and walked inside. The room was much cleaner and bare compared to Tye’s room. To Tye’s left was a brown bed-like couch with many blue, orange, beige, and white pillows on it. To their left was the wall of the room, a tall cabinet with a house plant on top of it in the upper-right corner, and a closet for some of Tye’s musical supplies, extra art canvases, and some other secret stuff they owned. They didn’t just draw or write, they also played an instrument. A sunburst-colored acoustic guitar leaned against the couch with its empty case and two other full guitar cases sitting by it along the left wall. Two windows, one in front of Tye and near the right wall and the house plant and one on the left wall and over-looking the couch, illuminated the room greatly. A small cabinet with an old, black, television from the early 2000’s sat in the upper left corner, collecting dust. An old, electric amp for one of Tye’s guitars was plugged in right next to it with four effect pedals linked into it on the floor. Some paintings Tye made over the years were either hanging over the couch or on the floor, laying against the wall. The guest room, as it was supposed to be, was the only room that wasn’t a complete mess downstairs. Tye only came here when they wanted to draw something special, to practice their guitars, or to just reflect and relax if they couldn’t do so elsewhere. It was their indoor sanctuary.

     Tye walked to and sat on the couch, placing the sketch book and pens beside them. They looked toward the light that illuminated from the window on the right. Tye then looked at the sketch book. What could they draw? Some idea had to come to them, they couldn’t just sit there all morning. Maybe some music would help them. Tye took out their black, light, mobile smart phone and white earphones. They unlocked the phone, flipped pass notifications, and went into the music app, looking for either a good playlist or album to start things off. Soon enough Tye found an album by a deceased musician and artist, George Harrison. It was called “ _All Things Must Pass_ ” and it had an old black and white picture of Harrison sitting on a stool in a field, surrounded by four ominous and goofy gnomes and an army of trees in the background. He sat there looking quite stern and looked away a little from the camera. They had been listening to this and some of George Harrison’s other solo songs and albums for a month now. _All Things Must Pass_ was a double album of nice, emotional, and sometimes relaxing songs that could spur any strange thought at any given moment within Tye. They scrolled down to the second “disc” of the album and decided they would start with the first song there. It was called “Beware of Darkness” and Tye would always feel horrified and amazed by this strange song. They plugged in the earphones, put the buds in their ears, and pressed on the screen of the phone to play the second disc of [_All Things Must Pass_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HQHVx2k_MU&list=PLlW06dtwSz0w3obmX_csjzeQziqhVli6D&index=1). The music began to play and Tye’s mind began to wander. Soon enough Tye started to gain some thoughts. They could try drawing a background of something natural. They continued to listen to the song. The song seemed to be about some dire warning of the dark things in life. It started off reassuring and then it descended into it’s warning of “darkness”. After that, the song would rise and become a depressing and serious explanation of that warning. It would then reassure you everything was going to be alright and then it would all repeat until a different path was proposed. And then it took you for a quick chaotic ride through the consequences of this darkness. Tye always felt how the singer was warning them specifically about the path in life they were currently on with lyrics like “beware of darkness”, “beware of sadness”, “As each unconscious sufferer wanders aimlessly”, and “beware of thoughts that linger”. Tye continued on listening through the song, searching for an answer.

     _“… Watch out now…! Take care, beware of greedy leaders… who take you where you should not go… while weeping at the cedars… they just want to grow, grow and grow!”_ Cedars! That was it! Weeping cedars! Tye knew what they could draw. Soon enough the singer sang his last warning of darkness and the song ended. Next was the song “Apple Scruffs”, a short lighthearted folk song. It fueled Tye’s determination to start sketching out some cedars in a swamp with rain. With the pen and paper, they went to work. Each light line, curve, and mark was made at the rhythm of the guitar and bark of the harmonica. Soon enough a few lines could be identified as trees. Eraser marks from the pen began to appear as Tye continued. Soon a few branches could be seen with lines and marks mixing into each other. The bright, happy mood of the song made Tye smile a little. This song was a joy to listen to so far. The funny lyrics, the echoing voices, the crisp guitar, and the harmonica that almost played like a violin filled the room with visions of forests that were very different to the one Tye was drawing. And in there appeared those gnomes from the album cover. They danced, laughed, and played to the music in Tye’s head as the sketch continued. Soon enough the song faded away and so did the gnomes and the forest with it.

     “Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)” came third. Its bass line descended down as the distance guitar and piano moved like waves. Soon enough, Tye was transported into the American countryside. Fields of green grass, pine trees growing and tall, blue mountains in the surrounding distance, and a bright, rising sun could now be seen in their mind. A blowing wind could be felt in the ears along with the dancing and transcending music. Tye continued to draw out the “weeping cedars” in a manner that went with the rhythm of the song. Lines descended just like the bass line and the chords at the beginning and then went up and across when the lyrics came on. The ink rolled down hill on the outlines of the cedars, ground, and the swamp. Soon deep whispers called out to “Sir Frankie Crisp” with the descending, repeating melody. The light playing of the acoustic guitar with the wandering pedal steel opened Tye to the idea of running through the country fields that they were now mentally in. Feelings of relaxed euphoria engulfed them and the cedars cried joy. Soon the song faded, but the feelings were still coming. “Awaiting On You All” started off with a brave, happy introduction and it’s message to Tye started. The countryside was gone, but Tye continued drawing in the same state they were in. The fast-paced rhythm of the song made their hand dance and rush with each shape and size they drew on the paper. The lyrics were weirdly religious and Tye dared not to understand them. They weren’t religious and lyrics that were religious eluded them. They didn’t believe in them and just listened to the song for its melody and harmony. The drawing was nearly done in its sketch phase. Just a few more sketch lines and eraser marks and Tye could finally set down their sketchbook and look at it. With the final bang of the song, Tye paused the album, took out their earphones, and looked at the finished sketch. The trees were decently drawn, although a reference for the drawing would have been nice to look at. The rain wasn’t perfect, it could have drawn a lot better without looking like simple lines put all over the place. The ground seemed to have been nicely laid out. It was just a simple sketch in the morning, so it wasn’t going to be perfect. Perhaps they would visit it later. They should.

     After all of that, Tye was too bored to continue with a better drawing than what they had just drawn. They then realized there were probably a lot of notifications on their phone and tablet by now, so Tye decided to go into their room to check them. But first, Tye looked at the time. It was 8:12 AM. It was still surprisingly early in the morning. Not for long, though. Tye was known for spending hours on their tablet if they weren’t drawing pictures or playing on the guitar. They walked into their room without the sketchbook and it’s pens and found their tablet on the floor charging. They unplugged it and took it out of the room with them. Tye then walked into the short hallway once again and then entered the living room so that they could look at the notifications from their social media app while relaxing on the couch.

     The tile floor ended and soon a tan-colored carpet arrived. The living room was dimly lit and larger than most of the downstairs rooms of Tye’s house. It had a nice and soft carpet just like the floors in their bedroom and the guest room. The walls were painted a medium gray, just like almost every other wall in the house. From the open, door-less, entryway that Tye had come from, all of the room’s inhabiting objects could be seen. From where they were standing, across the room was a locked door to a room Tye had never been to. They had never been able to unlock the door as they didn’t have the key to it. And they had never bothered to try and find that key or figure out another way to open it at all. The room also seemed to be connected to the extensive, backyard and side porch that Tye could only get into via the backyard. Inside the living room sat a large, dark brown couch with a coffee table directly in front of it. There was also a large, plasma-screen TV and a TV stand in front of the table, across the room at the wall. Inside the stand were cables, a fire and gas alarm, an opened package of batteries, and old video games that Tye hadn’t played in years. The remote was placed haphazardly on the coffee table along with Tye’s travel bag, wallet, sunglasses, and other gear they traveled with. A rocking chair rested near both the locked door, the coffee table and the couch. Another door-less entryway to the entrance room was to the right of the couch, on the same wall the other entryway was. A window on the wall across was in the corner above the couch and another window was on the next wall and was also above the couch. They were both closed by the blinds and the lights of the living room was off. Tye would have to pull the dangling cord on the living room fan to light the room up. But they didn’t feel like doing that and they were fine with the dim lighting. Usually they would turn on the lights of each room at night, so they would probably do that later. Unlike the guest room, there were no pillows on the living room couch. The living room was perhaps the most organized room of the house, as all the other rooms had some mess of papers, dusty objects, and/or technology that was rarely used.

     Tye lingered to the couch and fell onto it. With their phone, they checked for any calls or texts. Nothing but reminders and notifications from apps that Tye never used. The only important apps they used were on their tablet as they had no room for such things on their phone. The apps they used were Tumblr, YouTube, Discord, and Twitter. They also had Skype, but it was rarely used as no one really talked to Tye online. Tye checked twitter for any new tweets from the people they followed. Aside from yesterday’s tweets, there was nothing too interesting at the moment. The 009comic_bot had posted the usual weird and useless gibberish tweets every half hour like it always did. Softfish5, a mutual of Tye’s, had just started posting their thoughts and status of the day. They would often post doodles as well and retweet posts of comics, pictures, or videos. Sometimes Tye would reply to them, other than that, they would just like their tweets. It had been at least seven months since Softfish5 and Aaron Cherry (Tye’s username) become online mutuals, meeting on tumblr over a webcomic they both read. They were a college student somewhere across the continent. They were currently ranting about something Tye already knew about and had an opinion on. Softfish5 and Tye would sometimes chat over small things and Softfish5 would like and retweet some of the pics of art Tye posted. Tye hoped to meet them in real life someday, but that was unlikely. The next online mutual of theirs, Meritcheese, was currently retweeting news about a cartoon show Tye had only seen previews of. Meritcheese was someone Tye had followed back almost a year ago. They once had an art blog on tumblr, but that has since been deleted for unspecified reasons. They would pay no mind to Tye online, but Tye nonetheless would support them with likes, retweets, and the occasional encouraging reply. Meritcheese was a cartoonist for their own show on an island far to the east. Tye also hoped to meet them as well in real life. A few video tweets of music caught Tye’s attention. They were from a musician that Tye followed. Today’s composition appeared to be a quick chord progression in D Major. The progression was ii, V, vi, iii, and repeat. Tye instantly liked the video and scrolled upward to see more tweets. Next were some tweets of the latest news. Someone had accidentally set a store on fire in New Anchorage. No one was hurt, but the damage will cost both the arsonist and the store owner. Tye frowned at the news as the store happened to be a café. They often visited cafés when they weren’t locked inside their house and wouldn’t want any harm to come to them. Maybe they would go hang out at a café later today. Tye checked their messages and notifications in the app and found nothing new.

     After spending at least twenty minutes looking at small art pics, threads, and short videos on twitter, Tye went on to Tumblr. Here is where Tye posted most of their art and musical compositions under the stupid username of “ACxTZX2w”. Upon entering the app, they realized they needed to check to see if they had received any art commissions yet. Tye checked their inbox and messages. Nothing yet unfortunately. Then again, Tye had only just posted their commission info yesterday. And not everybody that saw the post would commission them immediately. The prices they listed for sketches, drawings, and paintings were cheap enough. Maybe Tye should make and post more art. Maybe they would gain a significant following if they did that.

     Tye then went back to looking at their dashboard. Flipping past useless reblogs, Tye finally found some interesting art pics from someone they followed. It was pictures of some OC’s in different stances and expressions. It hadn’t received many notes. Tye liked and reblogged it and moved on. Next they saw a posted link to a fan fiction site. It was Archive of Our Own and the fic was called “Time and a Bird” by Summersalt. Tye occasionally visited the site to read fics like these and even post some of their own writings. Tye pressed on the link and decided to see what exactly the fic was about. The fic was based off of a show called “StarvbandVI!”, which was something Tye had watched a few years ago. It was a fun show, so seeing a fan fic of it was nice. “StarvbandVI” was an old, independently-made show about a team of space bounty hunters in a weird, glowing future. It seemed to be ironic as Tye lived in what was considered the “space-age-y future” and nothing here and now was like the setting in the show except for the advanced technology and space travel. Instead of the glowing, bright, neon lights of “StarvBandVI” and the great utopia that resided in it, everything was dark, bleak, depressing, and badly nostalgic. Or at least that’s how Tye saw it. It was shows like this that made life more bearable. The fan fic was at least eight chapters long, so Tye ultimately decided to bookmark it and read it later. They continued to look through tumblr. Past more useless reblogs, Tye found an art blog they followed. Grevion was its name and the artist posted doodles and sketches, some of which were highly detailed pencil sketches of human anatomy. Today they had posted a colored doodle of some characters from a very old show hugging each other romantically. The artist obviously shipped them and the characters were commonplace on their blog. Tye liked the post and went on to check out Grevion’s blog out some more. They had also recently posted some anatomy sketches, but nothing too exposed or sexualized. Tye was a good anatomy drawer themselves, but they never posted it online. Tye would, however; post pictures of sketches, doodles, and paintings whenever they painted, and digital art they made on their laptop. They weren’t too popular yet, like Grevion. But hopefully they would get noticed by someone big soon.

     Tye went back to the dashboard and found some more art. This time by a mutual of theirs on tumblr. Smint0i was an artist that Tye had encountered years back and had since been in contact with. They would even skype each other here and there. But recently they hadn’t really talked to each other. Tye just ran out of things to say and didn’t want to bother them every day with a conversation. The art was of a metallic dragon with purple eyes that stared right back at Tye. The wings were the only, other “organic” part of the dragon, which were feather-like, but not exactly like feathers. It was very nice and Tye liked and reblogged it to gain attention to the drawing. They then went back to scrolling through the dashboard. Shitposts, fan-fiction links, drawings, and sometimes music videos appeared one after another. It was all somewhat the same to Tye. They saw similar content the day before and the day before that. Sometimes they questioned why they even bothered using these sites when anything they posted didn’t get much attention and anything they saw wasn’t really interesting most of the time. They continued to scroll through the dashboard and looked at the rest of the posts they hadn’t seen from last night.

     After being on tumblr for what felt like at least thirteen minutes, Tye checked the time. It was 10:12 A.M. They had spent more time on tumblr than they thought, which was usual for them. Since they were done with Twitter and tumblr, they checked YouTube. Nothing new had been posted. Only just the same videos they had seen yesterday which were extended video game music vids and a watched lesson on how to play “Little Wing” in the subscriptions box. They exited the app and finally went into Discord. Tye was on three servers. The server names were listed and labeled as “Old Dime”, “B.A.I.F.”, and “The Level Lounge”. The “Old Dime” server was where they communicated with other fans of the webcomic of the same name. The comic was created by some fans of the _Die Hard_ series and has been going on for a couple of years now. The story is still in its beginning act, but was still good enough to be read online. It was the story that captivated Tye and renewed their creativity and imagination months ago when they discovered it. The community was nice and even though it was small and the comic wasn’t yet popular, the server was busy at many times during the day. The server was the only one for the “Old Dime” community on Discord, so it was fairly packed with readers and fans. Even the creators of the comic came on every once and awhile. A long conversation had happened last night that Tye wasn’t a part of. They checked the general tag and found some new members had joined. The #theories channel was where some people had just debated the origins of an antagonist in the story. It was as follows:

OscII2o- Yesterday at 3:07 AM

  * Jack James Mont was once an agent for Dyme’s Army
  * Its kinda obvious
  * Any thoughts?



776Pien- Yesterday at 3:07 AM

  * nah
  * he was some victim of the february inn terror attacks
  * and he wants revenge on OD



OscII2o- Yesterday at 3:08 AM

  * How could he be? I mean I know he was there at the February Inn when the attack happened and he was injured. But he couldn’t have been some random stranger. Why else would he have combat training and know most of Old Dime’s Passwords?



776Pien- Yesterday at 3:10 AM

  * well maybe he was a soldier in the us army or something
  * i mean the inn was a place in a foreign country and was known for being a place that soldiers came to when they vacationed



O63- Yesterday at 3:11 AM

  * they do have a point @OscII2o



776Pien- Yesterday at 3:12 AM

  * thanks
  * and the casualty list did have many soldiers’ names on it
  * same with the injured/wounded list at the century hospital that dd had



O63- Yesterday at 3:14 AM

  * hmm



     The rest of the conversation continued and eventually went into some recent scenes in the comic itself. Tye, of course, had read everything from the slow beginning to the rushed, latest update. After reading the conversation in the #theories channel, Tye noticed a new conversation was starting. They now began to read the first comments of the #general channel. Someone by the name of 53Ans had posted a picture of the main character, Brunz. Brunz was a harmless kid that had gotten caught up in the mess of Old Dime’s war. He was shy and was twelve years old with short, dyed-blond, hair and nine toes. They wore a gray and red long-sleeved shirt with blue shorts and black sandals. Brunz was a kid that lived alone with his two adopted parents in a small, secluded house at the edge of a wasteland. Recently in the comic, one of their parents had just been killed and the other abandoned them soon afterward. Tye identified deeply with Brunz and believed they knew what Brunz was going to be like and what they would deal with later on in the future as an adult.

     The picture that 53Ans had drawn of Brunz was of them carrying their dead father’s gun with blood still on it. Brunz’s face was dark and sad with their eyes covered completely with the shadow of their hair. It was very detailed and was slightly similar to Tye’s own art style. The people online were complimenting 53Ans’ drawing, so Tye decided to do so as well:

TyeZavXeh- Today at 10:29 AM

  * Xx i like it so much!xX



063- Today at 10:29 AM

  * nobody uses x’s anymore @TyeZavXeh



TyeZavXeh- Today at 10:30 AM

  * sorry :c



776Pien- Today at 10:31 AM

  * america



53Ans- Today at 10:32 AM

  * Germany



66gesus- Today at 10:32 AM

  * Wwii



53Ans- Today at 10:33 AM

  * Or wwi if you think about it



063- Today at 10:34 AM

  * remember history class?



776Pien- Today at 10:34 AM

  * yeah!



66gesus- Today at 10:34 AM

  * OMG YES!!!



063- Today at 10:36 AM

  * man I had this one teacher who was very cool
  * we had too much homework though
  * i hate ap classes



TyeZavXeh- Today at 10:37 AM

  * what’s an ap class?



063- Today at 10:37 AM

  * geez tye
  * did you even go to school?
  * how the hell do you not know what an ap class is?!?!



TyeZavXeh- Today at 10:38 AM

  * no
  * i didn’t go to school on earth



063- Today at 10:38 AM

  * well you are a new earthian



53Ans- Today at 10:39 AM

  * @TyeZavXeh an AP class is a college-level class that was once taken by us old earthians back in the good ol’ days on earth.
  * AP stands for advanced placement



TyeZavXeh- Today at 10:39 AM

  * oh i see



53Ans- Today at 10:39 AM

  * These classes were horribly hard and unless you were very smart and had lots of time, you were fucked if you were in one.
  * At the end of the year, you have to take an exam and if you pass, you don’t have to take that class in college.



TyeZavXeh- Today at 10:40 AM

  * sounds stupid



53Ans- Today at 10:40 AM

  * it was



TyeZavXeh- Today at 10:40 Am

  * why would someone take that?



063- Today at 10:41 AM

  * people who were forced by their parents to so
  * people who had no choice in picking their classes
  * people who couldn’t choose do anything easy



063- Today at 10:42 AM

  * people who were weren’t privileged, annoying brats that lived in space and spammed the chat with cringy, unwanted nicknames, jokes, and shit, @TyeZavXeh



     Tye closed out of Discord. It wasn’t worth their time even respond. But that wasn’t what 063 really said. Ever since they had gotten into the server, people didn’t like them. They always talked a lot and would often emotionally vent to random strangers on that server. Tye didn’t know anyone in real life that was on Discord, so making and keeping friends was a challenge. Despite all their years messaging friends online, telling them of their problems and getting easy comfort from them, Discord was somehow different. No one there seemed to want to care about Tye’s own personal problems, they would rather talk about “Old Dime” theories, art, and characters. Most of the chat wasn’t rude to Tye, but 093 was always vigilant with Tye’s online antics and was strict towards them, reminding them of the rules of the server. 093 was a moderator who didn’t want to hear what weird, new joke or phrase that came from Tye and they certainly hated it when Tye didn’t know something that was common knowledge. What they had really said was less rude and less directed toward Tye. But Tye could still tell of it’s direction and tone. They needed to stop being so annoying or they might get banned from the server altogether, which was Tye’s worst fear on Discord.

     Tye opened up YouTube and began to play a video on an old world tune that Tye loved hearing. Unfortunately, it was still too challenging for Tye to play on their guitar as it used a slide. They never played that style of guitar, instead they played old rock, pop, and occasionally blues songs that with theirs fingers and/or a pick. The video was fifteen minutes and it was titled: “Pineapple Soda Jam Blues” and it was by the channel “No Blues”. Besides a guitarist playing with a slide on their electric guitar, Tye heard an electric pianist, an acoustic bass guitarist, and a drummer playing with brushes. There was no real video footage of the musicians playing, just the image of the song title with a picture of a small ocean island at night. Tye laid on the couch with their tablet above their head. The relaxing melody and harmony almost put Tye to sleep. It was in the key of C# Major and moved slowly with a ¾ time signature. When the video had finished, Tye went back into Discord to check the chat of the “Old Dime” server. Things had calmed down and the topic of discussion had changed to something else. Since they couldn’t relate to this new conversation, Tye choose to not engage in it. They just sat there, on the couch, depressed.

     Just then, Tye heard a noise from outside. They turned off their tablet screen and looked at their Armband. It was 11:00 A.M., about noon. They put the tablet down on the coffee table and got up. Tye stretched their arms and legs for a bit as they had been sitting on the couch for hours. After the last arm and leg stretch, Tye walked into the entryway next to the couch and entered the front entrance room of the house. Immediately the floor changed back to the cold tiles that existed in most of the downstairs floor, with the bedrooms and the living room being the exception. The front entrance room was still too small to be a hallway, but had a total of five entrances and/or exits. There was the entryway into the dining room ahead from the entryway of the living room that Tye had just came from. Then there was the door to the upstairs level of the house, which was closed. Tye would always go upstairs to paint, so the door was frequently used. Next was a small closet door where the vacuum cleaner, carpet cleaner, and some other cleaning tools sat inside. And then there was the front door to the outside world. Locked, cold, stiff, and stern; the front door protected Tye from the elements and intruders. But mostly it made them paranoid from time to time. It had a small window at the top so they could see if anyone was outside, which they frequently did. Tye walked towards the door, where their brown boots stood at the corner of the room. They heard a rumbling hum from the door. It was usually louder in the morning, but this small rumble always put Tye at ease if they listened to it for a bit. It was quiet, calming, and nothing stuck out. Outside, they could see that a white van with blue stripes driving away. The mail was here.

     Tye grabbed their boots, pulled up a dining room table chair, sat down, put their feet in, and tied their boots up. They then checked their flannel, unlocked the front door, and stepped outside. The air flew into their long hair, making it move slightly. They shook it out of their face and closed the door. The front yard was average compared to the rest. A tree to Tye’s left was starting to lose its orange and yellow leaves. The mailbox was at the end of the yard, standing full of what had just been delivered. Tye walked over to it from the concrete sidewalk and opened it up. Five letters were inside, no packages or bags. They closed the mail box and walked back to the house. Before entering back inside, Tye looked around at their surroundings. The neighborhood was fairly quiet and no one was outside. The only sound that they could hear were some birds in the trees and the sun shining. With that brief moment, Tye went back inside, closed the door and locked its deadbolt.

     The five letters were then laid out onto the dining room table. While Tye did get important emails, they lived in a place that still delivered mail regardless of how dated the process was. Some things just wouldn’t be emailed directly, which was where the mail came in. It was inefficient but how else was Tye going to get out of the house everyday. After taking off their boots, Tye opened the letters. The first letter was a bill on tree paper. Tree paper was always a scarce resource and there were better alternatives to it such as holographic paper, but Tye always liked the tree paper better for drawing and painting on. As a result, they had to pay more for it and it was taxed heavily. The bill was cast aside on the table, but Tye knew they would have to look at it eventually so they could still pay for it. The next letter was an ad for a medicine that Tye didn’t know about nor need to take. They throw it aside like the tree paper bill, but it was thrown in the opposite direction. The third letter was an application to a nearby college that Tye wasn’t interested in. Getting these applications was far too common and Tye hated getting these letters. It was put aside as well. The fourth letter was an ad for art supplies. They flipped through it and found some new markers they needed. It wasn’t too pricey so they could order it now if they so pleased. After putting that one aside, they opened and read the final letter, from their doctor.

_Dear Tye XaverZehria,_

_Unfortunately, I regret to tell you that I am retiring. I have worked hard in my life enough to earn this so soon, yet I still feel like I have to abandon many of my current patients. I know you need my help the most and I wish I could have stayed longer to help you on your drug addiction and your depression but I can’t anymore. But don’t worry Mx. XaverZehria, all of my patients, including you, will be re-assigned to new doctors. You should get a letter in the mail of the new doctor who will be assigned to you, and then your “recovery” can resume. Honestly though, I hope they can help you better than I did, because you were always a constant struggle in my job as a doctor. Having to send letters to you daily just to get you to leave your house for a monthly checkup is ridiculous! …_

_… You had a long history of cooperating with human doctors, so why was I different? I may have acted like I shouldn’t have here and there, but I got my act together so you trust me. …_

_… Mx. XaverZehria, please treat your new doctor with respect and kindness! You need all the help you can get and they need to be able to communicate with you in order to do that. Your health must get better otherwise you might not make it to age thirty. Hopefully you do and I want to hope that I had some play in that. I will be leaving the continent to go live elsewhere. …_

_In regards,_

_Dr. Samuel Preacher_

     Tye grew furious at the letter from their doctor. Most of it seemed like lies, which didn’t make anything better. Tye always had a shaky relationship with Dr. Preacher since they were 22, when they first met. Now it seems like they were going to get somebody different yet again. They had had a total of five doctors in their life. Two of them had left them, including Dr. Preacher. Two more Tye left since they no longer needed their aid. And one had been killed. Doctors were always a group of people Tye disliked. Whether they were too controlling, they lied often, or they just didn’t care, Tye couldn’t stand them. And a new doctor was most likely going to be like the others, a pain to be around with. Unfortunately Tye was required by law to have a doctor in order to be eligible for healthcare, so it was either this or no discounts on expensive medicine, which they didn’t want to risk. They were too anxious about getting sick or injured and ending up at a hospital for a while. Putting the letter down, they looked below and began to cry silently.

     “I knew you would do this today.”

     Tye lifted their head but did not look around for the origin of the voice. Behind them stood a figure as tall as Tye. It had the same flannel, jeans, shirt, socks, and boots on. The same dark skin, bones, and black hair on together. The only differences were its angry expression and its hair, which was styled into a braided ponytail. It was Tye but not Tye. They were referred to as “Other Tye” and the real Tye always had to deal with this part of their personality daily. The aggressive force spoke again.

     “I think we knew this was going to happen eventually, you worthless little shit.” Other Tye muttered.

     “…” Tye didn’t want to say anything right now. Instead, they wiped a tear from their face.

     “Dr. Preacher always hated you because you never bothered to try. You were are always so lazy, so depressed, and so drugged that he couldn’t stand you, Tye.” Other Tye berated. “I know you were going to drive him away, eventually. Just like almost everyone else in your sad existence of a life.”

     “This wasn’t supposed to happen…” Tye mumbled.

     “What was that?!” Other Tye demanded while clenching their fists in anger.

     “N-nothing.”

     “Really? No… I know what you really said. You don’t need to mumble at me, you coward!”

     “*Sigh*, this… wasn’t supposed… to happen, ok?!” Tye admitted.

     “Well obviously you didn’t try hard enough this time. You always want to burn a bridge with someone when one simple, useless argument happens or you fail to make a good first impression.”

     “…”

     “This is why you don’t have many friends, Tye. The only real friends you have are your remaining childhood friends and you can’t even act better around them. You never talk enough or say anything right. It’s a good thing they take pity on you for the way you act, otherwise you’d be completely alone.”

     “Shut up!”

     “You can’t make me! I’m here because you aren’t right in the head. I’m here because you’re that lonely and that crazy. I’m cursed to be with you every second of the day. I’m here to remind you that you are still worthless, every day of the year. This letter from your now-former doctor proves it.”

     “… P-please go away…” Tye walked away from them into the kitchen. But Other Tye followed them, antagonized. Tye walked back around into the living room. They took out their phone and headphones and began to play the beginning of the first disc of the [_All Things Must Pass_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYFIl64ivYo&t=0s&list=PLlW06dtwSz0zKFO2dyR5gEw9j2Ix1WNgc&index=1) album. They put the headphones on and turned up the volume. Other Tye stood only a few feat behind them, ready to give Tye their piece of mind.

     “You can’t ignore me by playing music!” They were right, as Tye heard them louder than the music and there was no way the music could get any louder safely. “With Dr. Preacher gone, and you still here listening to that depressing, boring music, nothings going to change.”

     “…Mmmmm…” Tye hummed.

     “You are still that sad kid with emotional problems all those years back.”

     “Why do you exist?!” Tye paused the song, took off the headphones, and turned back around to confront themselves.

     “Didn’t I already say that? I can’t believe I have to repeat myself with you. With all the traumatizing events you’ve dealt with, the list of people that have left you for various reasons, and your continued habits in drugs and lifestyle, I am here to set you straight.”

     “Well you haven’t done a very good job of it.”

     “That’s because I can’t control you. I’m just apart of your sick, damaged mind.”

     ”… A useless voice in my head.” Tye mumbled, but slightly louder.

     “And how are you different from me?! At least I want to get things done. You always quit way ahead of things, like that drawing you didn’t finish this morning and that bill on paper. You are a larger waste of potential who is too old to have a second chance.”

     “Why do you hate me?”

     “Because you don’t do anything.”

     “Really?”

     “Yes. You never finish anything that you start and you always waste your chunks of time sulking in that sweat sponge you call a bed.”

     “I’ll prove you wrong.”

     “I feel like I’ve heard this before.” Other Tye said sarcastically.

     “…”

     “Well, there is still plenty of time left today, I’ll give you that.”

     “I know that.”

     “But you never do.”

     “Whatever. I’ll do something productive today.”

     “Only today?”

     “*SIGH*, I’ll prove myself, ok?!”

     “Then do it, Tye.”

     Tye then turned around, walked toward the couch, and sat down. They then grabbed the tablet and turned it on to look at. They started checking their social media apps again. Other Tye stood over them and scoffed.

     “I knew it.”

     “…” Tye tried to focus on their current “task”. Soon they became distracted from their original intent and wandered through the apps on their tablet. When Tye would prove themselves to be productive was unknown. Maybe tonight they would actually prove it, but now Tye wanted to entertain themselves with a useless posts, memes, and videos. It was the only way to temporarily forget the conversation they just had.

    “Why do I even try?” Other Tye looked up at the ceiling while Tye didn’t pay any real attention. They continued their current online check-through. Other Tye just sat down with them, looking over their shoulder in what looked like a combination of disgust and disappointment. With every passing minute of distraction, Other Tye seemed to fade away. But Tye knew they were always there. After all, they were the only one who lived here.

     Tye shook themselves up from the couch. Their Economic Armband told them it was now 12:05 P.M. and their stomach was felt funny. It was time to eat lunch already. They had let almost an entire hour go by. Other Tye was going to be right, they weren’t going to prove them wrong. Tye stretched out once again, picked up their tablet, and then walked into the dining room. They put the tablet at their seat on the table and walked into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, Tye looked at their options. After considering what they wanted, they took out a lemon from its bag and closed the fridge. Tye then went to the sink, washed the lemon off, put it on the same plate they ate the apples on this morning, and went to the silverware drawer. Tye took out a steak knife with a black handle and walked with it and the lemon all the way to the dining room table. Tye then found their glass of water from this morning on the counter and filled it up with the sink’s tap water. They walked back to table with it and sat down. Now the sun was shining brightly on the table at where they sat. The tablet screen was hard to clearly see, forcing Tye to turn up its brightness. They then took the knife and began to cut open the lemon. They did this slowly so they didn’t get any juice in their eyes.

     Lemons were something Tye had just started eating entirely recently, instead of licking them awkwardly at cafe’s and restaurants. Despite the strong, sour taste that made their lips pucker too much and their tongue turn, it was worth the nourishment. Tye could’ve had a sandwich, but they didn’t feel like making one. Tye finished cutting the lemon down into slices so they could devour it. While taking the first bitter bite out of a slice, Tye decided to look up some interesting, yet educational videos on their YouTube dashboard. There was one video on “Modes that you can apply to your guitar solos” that interested them. The person who was teaching the tutorial was a young man of Spanish decent, with a thick, American accent. He also had a buzz cut of black hair, green eyes, and a serious-yet-non-condescending expression and tone. The man wore a dark yellow fleece with a purple shirt underneath, a silver and white removable Economic Armband on his right arm, and a dark pair of jeans with black socks and brown _Sperrys_. He held a semi-hollow body guitar that looked old. It had a worn cherry red finish with a right-handed cutaway, with two humberker pickups, two nobs for volume and tone and a pickup switch. It looked like it was from the Gibson brand, but the logo on the headstock was faded. The footage didn’t show the kind of amp being used and the description didn’t either, which disappointed Tye as they took another bite of the fruit. They spoke slowly and showed finger positions using a diagram that was edited in. Tye had been playing guitar for years now and they had gotten pretty good at it despite being self-taught, but tutorials like these were always a good help to them. Tye paused the video and added it to their “Watch Later” list. The list was packed full of other guitar videos, music audio vids, and art tutorials. Tye hadn’t managed to finish every video in that list and it just kept piling up. Now the number of videos in the “Watch Later” list was at 89. Maybe one day they would force themselves to watch it all.

     Tye finished a slice of the lemon and then went on to the next slice. They had five slices total, with just one already finished. The seeds that came inside were spit out onto the plate. The rind of the lemon was eaten along with the “meat” and Tye usually devoured it with both still on. The sour taste now made Tye’s eyes quint hard in pain. This was going to take a while. But they continued to eat the lemon slice.

     Tye looked up the twitter account of one of the “Old Dime” creators, Orville Gains. He was a story board artist for an adult show Tye had only bothered to watch once, a husband to the other creator of “Old Dime”, and an artist that drew in a style similar to Tye. Gains had just posted how their day was going. According to him, they had just finished two episodes of a show called “Three Games” and a new episode that he was storyboarding was in the works. The company that he worked for made many cartoons, some of which Tye had watched year’s ago as a late teen. The company was called “BoardLand” and Tye wished they worked for them on one of their shows. Their skills as an artist and a guitarist were now good enough to be deemed professional so getting the job shouldn’t be too hard. Only Tye had not managed to graduate school when they finished their last year of it. A bout of depression, useless grades, and a toxic environment were to blame for that. Since Tye hadn’t bothered to try again or continue their education in college, they thought no one would bother to hire them for that. It made them jealous of Gains and other people who worked on shows like “Three Games” and companies like “BoardLand”. They should be working there, drawing up on a board, creating new episode ideas, events, and characters, and coming up with accompanying music pieces. They shouldn’t be here at home, with only the option of commissioning to get money and use of their talents. A steady hatred grew every time Tye saw an account of a professional artist like this.

     “You could be there, Tye. If you even tried to be productive, you could be there right now. But all you’re doing is eating lemons.”

     “*Groan*”

     “Seriously, why lemons? They’re better for drinks like tea and water. You’re not supposed eat them for fucking lunch, let alone for anything!”

     “They remind me of how bitter life is.”

     “Oh how edgy. Like everyone will stop what their doing and stare at you in amazement for eating a lemon. Like you’ll be more respected by everyone else so suddenly.”

     “Shut up, I’m trying to eat a lemon.” Tye said while eating another slice of the tart “snack”.

     “I think this is worse than your addiction to “ZuVielZucker”.”

     At that moment, Tye was randomly staring out at the window to their right. Nothing was outside, but Tye would wonder if someone would ever arrive at their house. A friend or a stranger could appear and try to knock on the door. They would always expect someone and this feeling of anxiety went back to the year Tye first started playing guitar. Other Tye glared at the back of Tye’s head in disappointment.

     “There’s nothing out there you know.”

     “You don’t know that. Someone might knock on my door right about now.”

     “Who though? Nobody, Tye. Not even that one person we see walking to and fro each morning. Even they don’t have time for you.”

     “I guess so. But just maybe…” Tye gave up while they were ahead. They looked back at the plate and tried out a fourth slice of the lemon, which caused their eyes to water once it hit their tongue.

     “Quit it. What you’re doing is stupid.”

     Tye ignored them and continued eating the lemon. Other Tye no longer cared for the issue. They just wanted to see Tye do some work today, whether it be chores or art. Eventually Tye ate the last piece of the lemon. The bitter taste was then washed down with the glass of water. Tye was still hungry, so they got up and walked to the fridge and took out two apples. They washed them, walked back to the table and ate them. While doing so, Tye continued looking through twitter, hoping that someone might message them. They didn’t want to feel alone today.

     Right after finishing the apples and washing their hands, Tye realized they had to go check on their blueberry bush out in the backyard. It was now 12:43 P.M. Tye turned the tablet off, got back up from the table, and walked into the living room. They grabbed the pair of sunglasses from the table and walked back into the entrance room. The sun glasses were cheap and black with the lens’ being colored orange and magenta on the outside. They had gotten them many years back (either when they were sixteen or seventeen) and wore them constantly when outside and in public. The sun was still technically shining brightly at this point, so they needed them. They then put on their boots and sun glasses, and unlocked the front door. Tye opened it, walked outside, closed the door, and went to their left in the front yard, toward a driveway. While Tye could never own a car, it was always there when someone needed to park when they visited. That never really happened much though, so the driveway was mostly exposed to the elements. Upon following the driveway up near the house, Tye saw the garage ahead. Inside were some tools that Tye used to keep the yard in good shape when it was spring and summer time. Luckily they had no need to mow the lawn yet, which was a task Tye was notorious for not doing.

     Beside the garage was a boxed-in patch of dark brown soil, where a bush grew. It was a blueberry bush, specifically a high bush species known as _Bluecrop_. It had been growing here since before Tye had started living here. It was already mature and was still producing blueberries that Tye harvested every summer. It was the second important plant that Tye had to take care of and as such, they didn’t want it to die, like the first. When Tye was sixteen they owned a peace plant which soon died due to lack of care. Remembering it being thrown away made Tye cringe, making them care more for the blueberry bush they now had.

     The blueberries that Tye’s bush bloomed were smaller than other specimens of _Bluecrop_ , but it still produced a great amount of them. It was the only plant Tye worked on the most, as the other plants they had were house plants that didn’t need much water. The bush needed to be watered today with at least an inch of two of water. Tye found a side door to the garage and opened it. It was never locked because Tye lost the key to it and the main garage door was too large and heavy to open all the time. Inside the garage the smell of dust, dirt and grass reached their nose. Despite a lack of proper lighting and windows, Tye could see the one-room garage perfectly with the sunlight coming behind them through the doorway. Tools such as big shovels, a rake, a bucket of small gardening tools, a rusty and sheathed sword, an old rifle, and a disused hatchet leaned on the wall next to the door. At the center of the garage was the lawn mower and a pitcher-sized (but not shaped) watering bucket. There was also an old fridge plugged in at the back of the garage, with shelves of old cleaning supplies, weed killers, broken gardening tools, and other things (that Tye either didn’t know what is was or they never used it) right next to it. Other things such as folded tarps, a tent, a fuel container, a locked cabinet, a rack of trays, and a locked box were either laying on the ground or leaning on the wall straight ahead from the side door. There were too many things inside the garage that Tye didn’t use. Maybe they would muster up the courage to try seeing if some of these things still worked, fix whatever was broken, and/or open the locked cabinet and box. They took the watering bucket and walked back toward the house.

     The back porch was now visible to them. It had large, wall like windows, allowing sunlight to completely bathe it. To get inside it, all Tye had to do was around to the back of the house near the guest room and open the back entrance door and they would be inside. Some chairs and couches lined the hall-like porch along with small tables for lamps and flower pots. A bookcase was at the end of it, blocking the locked door that guarded the locked room. Sometimes it was nice to go inside and chill as it was drastically different from the rest of the house. But they didn’t need to go inside now. Beside the door was a faucet with a hose disconnected from it. Tye walked over to it, got down on their knees, turned the knob and out came cold, clear water. Tye filled the water bucket to the required amount and turned off the faucet. They got up and walked toward the boxed-in blueberry bush.

     The bush itself had red colored leaves, imitating the trees in the current season. Tye liked how it always did that. Before they had come to the house, the bush wasn’t doing so well. It had to be pruned badly, but luckily Tye was interested in saving it. After a year (and some reading up on how to take care of blueberry bushes and basic gardening skills), Tye managed to develop a habit of caring for it. The garden was already setup with thick wooden planks boxing up the soil and some wooden poles that stood tall on the corners. With those, Tye could put a tarp up on over the bush during the summer so the birds wouldn’t eat the berries. It was just the perfect size for the bush, nothing else. Tye tilted the bucket toward the bush and watered it. They walked around, watering the soil slowly and carefully. The blueberry bush could now continue its life into the next year to produce more blueberries. With what Tye got from the bush they either eat immediately or they froze it for storage in the garage fridge. Frozen blueberries were still nice and tasty.

     After the water was gone, Tye walked back to the garage and put the bucket back. They closed the door and went back to the bush. It truly was a magnificent plant. Tye stood there, watching it move slowly along with the weak wind. The rest of the backyard was just as bare as the front yard. Only grass, metallic fences, and some dirt existed here besides the garage and the garden. The house behind Tye’s was empty, same with the one by the garage. Not many lived here, which was a familiar feeling to them. If it weren’t for the garden, Tye would realize how empty things were here outside.

 

-placeholder.ldt

 

**Author's Note:**

> Will be soon... again...


End file.
